


Beyond The Armband

by Grattsfan



Category: USWNT - Fandom, Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-02-24 03:35:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23003290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grattsfan/pseuds/Grattsfan
Summary: Kelley O'Hara is the Captain of the Starr's Mills High School Girls' soccer team, and as such it's her job to know everything about her teammates to know how to motivate them best. Lately, she has noticed that one of the team's defenders, Emily Sonnett hasn't been performing up to her usual level of play, nor, has she been acting like her usual outgoing and entertaining self that they all come to known and love. Kelley decides to find out what is going on with her friend and teammate and ends up with more than she could have ever imagined.** Based off of my original One-Shot**
Relationships: Kelley O'Hara/Emily Sonnett, Morgan Brian/Kelley O'Hara
Comments: 18
Kudos: 108





	1. Chapter 1

Kelley O’Hara stands in the family bathroom, trying to brush the waves out of her hair and not having much luck, frustrated with it, she throws the brush down on the counter.

“Everything okay up there?”

Kelley shakes her head and picks up the brush, “Yes, Mom, just dropped my brush.”

“Ok.”

“That was a pretty loud sound for just dropping your brush.” Kelley’s sister Erin appears and the door and reaches around her to collect what she needs.

“Shut up, Erin, no one asked for your opinion.”

“Someone’s grumpy this morning.”

“Yeah, because I really want to get up before the rooster to join the ‘rents at Church. You’re just happy because it gives you an excuse to see Bobby.”

“Maybe if you had a boyfriend you’d be happier.”

“I don’t have time for a relationship right now, I need my time to focus on training so I can make the US team.”

“Uh-huh, your loss.”

Kelley pushes her out of the room, and she can hear Erin laughing at her antics.

“Kelley, are you ready, yet? We need to leave soon or we’ll be late and your father and I are part of the greeting party this morning, so we can’t be late!”

“I get it, alright, I’ll be down in a minute, Mom, just trying to figure out what to do with my hair.”

“Just put it in a ponytail like you always do Squirrel and let’s go already, Bobby already messaged me.”

“Erin, I’ve told you before that I don’t like it when you call me Squirrel and I could really care less about Bobby, oh he’s so cute and smart Anderson.”

“Squirrels, are cute, you know and well Bobby is cute too, that’s not a lie.”

Kelley shakes her head as much as she doesn’t want to admit it, squirrels are cute, but Bobby definitely isn’t!”

She hears her Dad yell this time, “Now, Kelley or we’re leaving without you!”

“Yes, Dad!” She quickly gathers up her hair and puts it into her ever-familiar ponytail before heading downstairs to join the rest of the O’Hara clan in their weekly outing.

As they pull into the lot and park the car, they all climb out of the car. Kelley stops, looks around at the cars and area and shakes her head.

“What’s your problem, now?’

Kelley looks over the car at Erin, “It’s just everything is always the same, the same people, the same building, it’s just so boring, coming here every week. Like seriously why do we need to come every week, anyway?”

“I get it, Kel, I’m not a fan of getting up early on Sundays to come here either, but you know the rules if we don’t then we lose our privileges, like being able to go out with friends or in your case being able to play soccer. It’s important to the ‘rents, so it needs to happen whether we are down with it or not.”

“The only reason I come is so I can keep playing soccer and maybe ask for forgiveness for the few times I mess up.”

Erin laughs at her sister, “More than a few times, Kel, unlike me because I’m perfect.”

Kelley nudges her, “You’re far from perfect, should we even talk about a certain Math test of yours that you hid from the ‘rents and forged Mom’s signature on, but I found? Seriously, 1 + 1 = 2, it’s not that hard!”

“Not all of us are good at math like you are. Anyways, what Mom and Dad don’t know, can’t hurt me and you aren’t going to tell them about it because if you do then I’m going to tell them exactly how Mom’s favourite lamp got broken.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Oh, but I would!” Erin laughs as she walks away knowing that Kelley won’t say a word about the test because she will be grounded for life if their parents find out that she knocked over and broke the lamp while playing soccer in the house.

Kelley follows Erin’s lead and walks over to where her parents are standing and shaking some people’s hands.

As she gets closer to her Mom, Karen, she turns around to face her, “Kelley, come over here and meet the Sonnetts and their daughters, they are new to the area.”

Kelley stands beside Erin, “Erin, Kelley this is Bill and Jane Sonnett and their twin daughters, Emma and Emily. I’m sure you will make the girls feel very welcome here.”

Kelley shakes the parent’s hands and acknowledges the girls with a smile and nod before responding with, “It’s nice to meet you, I look forward to getting to know you, I’m Kelley.”

Erin nudges her in the side as a means of keeping her showing off in check, then seeing Bobby and his family arriving asks for permission to go and see them, which is given.

With Erin gone, Karen turns to Kelley, “Why don’t you take Emma and Emily and show them around while Bill, Jane and us get better acquainted.”

“But…” Her father gives her one of his no-nonsense looks and she immediately stops her original thought. She looks at Emma and Emily, “Let’s go.”

The three girls walk away from their parents, “So, I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to be showing you. Anything, in particular, you want to see?”

Kelley keeps walking but stops when she hears them laughing. “What’s so funny? Is it my hair? ‘Cause, I did my best but the stupid fly a way wouldn’t cooperate this morning.” 

Emily smiles and laughs, “Your hair is fine, it’s actually kinda cute the way it has a life of it’s own, anyways, we were laughing because we spent all morning trying to come up with a way to get away from our parents for a bit and then it just worked itself out with you. They’ve been on us non-stop about how important it is to make a good first impression towards all the new people we’re meeting and we’d sooner just be on the pitch and kicking balls around rather than meeting all these old people.”

Kelley laughs, “I totally get it! You guys play soccer, that’s awesome, me too!”

Emma and Emily both smile and nod, “We were the leading goal scorers for our team the last two years, but then our Dad got transferred to another office for work and our parents thought it would be a good idea to move so that we were closer to it rather than him having to drive an extra half hour to and from work every day. A load of crap! But we didn’t have any say in the matter.”

“That’s too bad. I was the leading scorer for my team this past season. Wait! I knew I recognized you guys from somewhere. You played for Fellowship, this year didn’t you?”

They both nod, “How did you know?”

“It’s hard to forget a game where twins each score 3 goals to knock your team out of the State Championship.”

“Sorry, not, sorry about that. If it’s any consolation we lost in the Final on PK’s.”

“I know I was there cheering for the other team.”

“You weren’t?”

Kelley smiles and shakes her head, “No, but it would have made for a fun story, wouldn’t it?”

They shake their heads and laugh.

“So, if you guys just moved here do you know which school you’re going to be attending yet?”

“Yeah, our parents decided to allow us to attend public school, so we’ll be going to Starr’s Mill High.”

“No way, that’s where I go! We can all be Panthers together!”

“I take it the school teams are called Panthers?”

Kelley nods, “Yep. I’m excited now, we should totally hit the field together before school starts. We can get some training in and I can scope out my competition for the tryouts this year.”

“You better be ready to leave it all out on the field.”

Kelley feigns shock at the response and then laughs, “Seriously, though I’m excited about playing with you guys, we lost a few players from last season, because they graduated, so there are spots there for the taking.”

“Look forward to showing you how to play the game.” Emily smiles at Kelley as she says it, causing Kelley and Emma to laugh. “I have a feeling that today is just the start of something.”

“Something good or bad?”

“Not sure yet, guess we’ll have to wait and find out.”

Kelley’s phone buzzes and she makes a face at the message, “The ‘rents are requesting our presence now, the service is about to start and I’ll never hear the end of it if we’re late, so let’s go.”

“We should exchange digits after the service and then we can hang out.”

“Totally! Sounds like a plan.”

Kelley, Emily and Emma enter the building and go separate ways to sit with their families for the service.

A few times during the seemingly neverending service, Kelley locks eyes with Emily and has to fight back the urge not to bust out laughing as the other girl makes faces at her.

“Kelley, face the front.”

“Yes, Mom.”


	2. Chapter 2

After their initial meeting at church, Kelley, Emma and Emily began spending quite a bit of time together hanging out and getting back into game shape playing for hours on the schoolyard pitch.

With the school year quickly descending on them, they have grown to enjoy each other’s company with Kelley and Emily especially hitting it off thanks in large part to their similar happy go lucky personalities. As much as Kelley has tried to really connect with Emma, she is the more rigid and structured of the two and well, Kelley has been known to throw the rule book out of the window at times.

The first day of the new school year soon arrives and it’s the only day when Kelley is ever up before her alarm goes off, as she appreciates every last minute of sleep she can get. After throwing on the clothes that she put out the previous evening, she finishes off her routine, including taming her hair before collecting her backpack and heading down to the kitchen.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Morning Kelley, I made you your customary first day of school lunch, it’s waiting for the door.”

Kelley kisses her Mom on the cheek, “Thanks, Mom. Where’s Erin?”

“She left already to meet up with Bobby, so you’re on your own walking to the stop. I need to head out for work, so I’ll see you afterwards, have a good day and don’t forget to lock the door on your way out.”

Kelley heads into the kitchen and throws a bagel in the toaster, grabbing a banana to eat while she awaits it being toasted. As it pops up, she pulls it out, cursing loudly as she burns her finger on the hot piece of bread. She plasters it with cream cheese and then finishes it quickly as she soon realizes it is getting near bus time.

She makes sure the door to the house is closed and locked behind her before making the walk down the road to where the bus stops to pick them all up. As she anxiously waits, she catches up with some of the other kids at the stop and learns about their time off and what they did. As she begins to grow bored with the same stories of them doing little or nothing all summer, she is thankful when she sees Emma and Emily come around the corner.

She makes eye contact and smiles at them and they walk over to her.

“Sup, Sonnetts?”

“Hey, Kelley.” Emma keeps her head down as she walks away to stand closer to the stop.

“What’s up with Em this morning? First day jitters got her down? ‘Cause she’s going to be fine.”

“It’s not that, well not totally that. She spent forever getting ready this morning for school and when my Dad saw what she was wearing he ripped into her that it wasn’t appropriate and that it was too revealing, so he made her change.”

Kelley looks over at her, “She looks good, I like her shirt. I can’t see her being the type to dress inappropriate or revealing, was it really that bad?”

Emily shakes her head, “Not in the least, I helped her pick it out, so I should know. My Dad has this old school mentality that he is the man of the house and provider so that what he says goes or else! And my Mom fully supports it.”

“What do you mean or else? He doesn’t hurt you guys, does he?”

Emily shakes her head, “Not physically no if we disrespect him or his authority it usually amounts to us losing privileges and having to do extra chores. We also forfeit our right to collect an allowance for a period of time that he determines.”

“Seriously, what kind of old school crap is that?”

“It’s the way he was raised. I’m just glad that we are allowed to continue playing soccer because Mom begged him for it.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but your Dad sounds like an ass.”

Emily laughs, “The impression he gives off to the outside world is a lot different than the person we get at home. He’s often said that he wished to have boys but instead ended up with us.”

“That has to be hard to deal with, but you know you have me now so you can always talk to me about things, I’m a pretty good listener.”

“Thanks, Kelley. I’m really nervous about my schedule, classes and teachers this year because I don’t know what to expect and in order for us to be allowed to go to a public school Em and I both had to promise that we would get straight A’s. If I don’t then I can kiss playing soccer goodbye in favour of more study time.”

Kelley wraps her arm around Emily, “Don’t worry, most of the teachers at the school are pretty cool and as long as you don’t get caught skipping and do your homework, you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, Kel, you have no idea how much it helps to know someone heading into my first day in a whole new world.”

“I gotcha Sonny, no worries.”

“Sonny?”

“Yeah, I figured you could use a nickname, rather than just Sonnett 1 or 2 and we all have them on the soccer team.”

“Cool! But what about Emma? Shouldn’t she have one as well?”

“I figured we could just keep calling her Em, it’s easy to remember and well, I sometimes have a tendency to forget things because I’ve taken a few too many knocks to the head.”

Emily smiles and laughs, “What about you? What’s your nickname?”

“I have a few, but only one that can be repeated, is KO, because I pack one hell of a punch!” Kelley mocks swinging like a boxer.

Emily bursts out laughing, “KO, I like it.”

“Sweet.”

Once they finally arrive at the school after riding the packed stinky bus, they meet up with Erin.

“Where’s Bobby?”

“He had to deal with an issue with his schedule.” Erin looks at Emma and Emily, “You guys ready for your first day?”

They both nod, “Alright, I need to get my schedule, Emma do you want to come with me and we can get ours together then I give you the tour?”

Emma nods in agreement, “Sure. See you later, Sis, I’ll see you at lunchtime I guess.”

Emma and Erin head towards the office, while Emily and Kelley head towards the more important parts of the school, mainly the gym and cafeteria before collecting their own schedules.

After checking their schedules and finding out they only have one class together, they are disappointed, but Kelley assures Emily that most of the kids at the school are pretty chill and she shouldn’t have problems with making new friends, because as Kelley continues to tell her – she’s a walking meme.

Emily laughs, “If I’m a walking meme then what does that make you?”

“Awesome!” They both bust out laughing as Kelley walks Emily towards her first class and in the process shows her where her second one is as well.

“I’ll see you at lunch, Sonny, try not to get into too much trouble.” Kelley turns back to smile at her as she walks down the hallway and walks into someone sending their books flying all over the floor.

She being a nice person, stops to help pick them up and hands them back to the girl. “I’m really sorry about that, I should have been watching where I was going. I’m Kelley and you are?”

“Umm, Morgan, Morgan Brian, but everyone calls me Moe.”

“Nice to meet you, Moe, I’ll see you around gotta, get to class before I’m late.”

Kelley jogs down the hall and walks into the room just as the first bell rings and finds that Emma is in the class with her. She takes a seat in the empty desk beside her and smiles.

At lunchtime, Kelley searches out Emma and Emily and invites them to sit at the soccer team table with her and the rest of the team.

With their mutual love for the game of soccer acting as a catalyst, soon the Sonnett’s are making friends with most of the girls on the team. Kelley can’t help but bust out laughing at Emily’s overzealous reenactment of a scene from a famous movie, along with the rest of the group. She smiles with the thought, that even though the day may have started off rough for Emma, she seems to have now made a couple of new friends.

When the bell rings to indicate it’s time to head to their afternoon classes Emily follows Kelley out of the cafeteria as they make their way towards their shared class.

“How’s it going, Sonny?”

“Better thanks, the girls on the team are awesome!”

Kelley laughs, “No, I’m awesome, they are just my supporting cast.”

“Can you fit that big head of yours through the classroom door, KO?”

“If I turn sideways I can.” Kelley grins at her and Emily laughs and then playfully pushes her.

The rest of the day passes by relatively uneventful aside from Kelley and Emily missing the school bus and having to walk home after they lost track of time chatting and laughing.

“Are you going to get into trouble for being late, Sonny?”

Emily shakes her head, “I should be okay, my Dad doesn’t get home until later. I’ll see you tomorrow, KO.”

“Later, Sonny. Don’t forget that tryouts start at the beginning of next week.”

“No worries there, I got the day circled in pen in my brain!”

Kelley looks at her with a lost expression, “Huh?”

“Never mind, see you later.”

“Bye.”


	3. Chapter 3

The first week of school passes and soon Kelley, Emily and Emma begin to go their separate ways, hanging around with others but still chatting to each other when the occasion arises.

Monday afternoon rolls around and the girls all make their way to the field, cleats, water bottles and shin guards in hand for tryouts.

The Coaches walk out carrying pylons, a bag of balls and clipboards.

"O'Hara, you seem like you have energy to burn, how about you lead them through 3 laps around the field and stretching while we get set up."

"Yes, Coach!" Kelley smiles as she leads the group down the sideline and around the field.

"Excuse me, is this the soccer team tryouts?"

"Yes, and you're late!"

"I'm really sorry Coach, I forgot my shin guards and had to call and get my Mom to bring them to me."

"What's your name?"

"Morgan, Morgan Brian."

"Alright, Morgan, make sure it doesn't happen again and now get to running, you owe me three laps."

"Thank you!"

Morgan jogs away and completes her laps before joining the circle of players and stretching out.

They are told to partner up for some drills and skills and Morgan finds herself on the outside of the group.

"Need a partner?"

Morgan smiles, "Kelley, right?" Kelley smiles and touches her chest, "Ahh, you remembered me. I feel so honoured!"

Morgan laughs, "Partners?"

"Yep, let's go, Moe!"

As they pass the ball around and show off their skills together, Kelley and Morgan get to chatting and knowing each other better.

"Position?"

"Usually midfielder, you?"

"Forward, I like to score!"

Morgan laughs, "I bet you're pretty good at it, aren't you?"

"Darn right I am!"

"Okay, everyone in and line up at the pylons according to your preferred position. Keepers at the furthest, then defender and so on and so forth."

Kelley takes her place in the forward line, while Morgan moves to the midfield line along with Emily and Emma makes the walk to the defender line.

The Coaches go down the lines passing out pinnies.

"Blue to the Left, Yellow to the Right. Scrimmage time ladies. Keepers, it's up to you to alternate, I'm not in the babysitting business. No, let's go!"

Kelley looks behind her smiles and nods when she notices that somehow all the three of the other girls have ended up on the Blue team along with her.

They play for another 45 minutes before the Coach calls an end to the tryout.

"Good work ladies, let's get stretched out and cooled down and I'll see you all on Wednesday for the next tryout and the final roster will be posted on the board Friday afternoon."

Kelley and the girls finish up and then head over to the bleachers to change their footwear before heading back inside to collect their belonging from the locker room.

As Kelley waits to walk home with Emma and Emily, Morgan walks out of the locker room.

"Good work today, Moe, I really hope you make the team."

"Thanks, you're really good!"

Kelley laughs, "Told ya!"

Moe starts walking, "I'll see you tomorrow, Kelley."

"By the way, my friends call me, KO, and I think we're friends, now, right?"

Morgan nods her head and smiles in acknowledgement before walking down the sidewalk and out of sight behind the fence line.

Kelley finally sees the Sonnett's making their way outside, "Took you guys long enough! You ready to go?"

They walk and talk and soon they are out front of the Sonnett's house. Seeing their father's car already in the driveway causes them to react.

"See you at school, KO, we gotta go."

Emily and Emma jog to the front door and quickly inside.

Kelley makes the seemingly very long walk back to the O'Hara house and drops her bag inside the door, before heading to the kitchen to grab a snack.

"S'up Er?"

Erin eating some chips mumbles something that sounds like, "Nothing."

"Where's Mom?"

Erin puts her finger up to tell Kelley to wait a minute and then responds, "Mom is gone to deliver a casserole to someone from the church because there was a death in the family. Supper is in the fridge, just need to plate and nuke it, but first can you please shower, cause I can smell you over here."

Kelley makes a point of walking over to Erin and hugging her, "Squirrel, get off me, you stink!!"

Kelley laughs before deciding that she does indeed stink and need a shower.

On Wednesday afternoon, Kelley and Morgan once again partner up for the warmups and skills, as do Emma and Emily before they are split up for the scrimmage portion of the tryout.

Kelley noticing that Emily is laying flat on the grass after the session is over smiles towards Emma before squirting her sister with the water that remains in her water bottle. The result is that the girls still left all take part in a water fight and laugh about it as they make their way inside to the locker room.

"You good Sonny? You were looking a little hot, so I thought I'd cool you down."

"You do realize this means war, right, KO?"

Kelley laughs at her friend, "Bring it on short stack!"

Emma looks at the two of them and starts walking away, "I'm not taking part in anything that's about to go down between the two of you."

"You're no fun, Em!"

Kelley and Emily head towards the locker room, she looks around and doesn't see Morgan, so she just assumes that she already left.

As the three girls begin to make the walk home, Kelley has a lightbulb moment. "Crap! I forgot my Math book and we have a test tomorrow. You guys go ahead, I know you have to get home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Later, KO." Emma and Emily head on their way as Kelley makes her way back inside and down the long hallway to her locker to snag her Math book. She opens her locker, grabs the book, puts it in her bag, closes her locker and heads back out.

She catches a glimpse of a familiar figure sitting all alone on the bleachers and decides to head over and check on Morgan. She calls Morgan and the girl looks up at her through tear-stained eyes. Kelley takes a seat beside her and places her arm around her, "What's going on? Anything I can do to help?"

"My boyfriend goes to a different school and he just sent me a message saying he was breaking up with me because he wanted a girlfriend who he could see on a daily basis rather than just a couple of times a week."

"I'm sorry, Moe."

"He's right, even before soccer started, it was been pretty difficult finding time for us to hang out together and there's only so much talking on the phone you can do. It just sucks though because he was the only guy to ever really pay attention to me, cause, well, as you've no doubt noticed that I'm not exactly arm candy."

"You may not be traditional arm candy, but the way you can fire a ball around is pretty hot!" Morgan laughs. "Thank you for making me laugh. I should probably head home now."

"Hey, Moe, do you like, comedies because, there's a new Rob Schneider movie playing in the theatre, do you maybe want to go see it with me on the weekend and we can grab a slice as well?"

"Sure, sounds like fun."

Morgan waves to her as she walks away.

Kelley heads home and stays in the shower until she's all pruney thinking about the fact that she just asked someone, no a girl, to go to a movie with her. It's Moe, though, she's my friend and friends do things like going to movies together, it's not like I want it to be a date or anything, right? Because I don't like girls, right? 


	4. Chapter 4

Friday morning arrives and Kelley lays in her bed, excited that not only is it almost the weekend but also that it’s the day they will all find out if they have made the Starrs Mill’s High soccer team.

She assumes that based on the fact that she was banging in goals, left, right and centre during the tryouts that her place on the team is assured along with Emma and Emily who both performed really well over the sessions. She can’t help but think about Morgan and question if she made the team, as there was an abundance of midfielders who tried out with her.

She hears her Mom yelling, presumably from the kitchen, “Kelley, are you up?”

“I’m awake, Mom.”

“Okay, I’m heading out now, I’ll see you after school; Good luck today.”

Kelley smiles at the fact that her Mom remembered today was an important day for her.

“Thanks, Mom, have a good day at work.”

After allowing herself sufficient time to really wake up and stretch out, Kelley decides that she better get a move on. She gets up and digs through her drawers until finding her lucky t-shirt, opting to wear it today and then after making herself look presentable heads out to the kitchen to get something to eat.

As she is sitting and inhaling her cereal, Erin grabs a bowl of her own and sits down with her mumbling, “Morning” to Kelley as she eats.

They finish eating, and make sure to put their dishes in the sink not wanting to deal with the lecture they will receive should they forget again and then go about on their own ways.

She collects her bag and checking the time decides to catch the bus rather than making the long walk to school solo. She walks down and waits at the stop with the other students.

“Hey E, Where’s Sonny? She’s not sick is she?”

Emma shakes her head, “Dentist appointment, she’ll be at school a bit later.”

“I hate the dentist, it’s so loud and gross!”

Emma laughs, “I don’t think any normal person likes going to the dentist or doctor for that matter, KO.”

“Wait, did you just call me normal?” Kelley laughs and Emma does as well.

“You, normal? Nah!”

They both laugh.

“You excited to find out if you made the team?”

Emma shrugs, “I did my best at the tryouts and have to hope that the coaches saw and recognized that; if they did then I should have no problem in making the team.”

“Hope so. I can’t wait for the season to get underway!”

They form a line as the bus arrives at the stop, Emma and Kelley continue chatting for the short ride to the school and once it arrives go their separate ways.

The morning classes seem to drag on forever for Kelley and she is incredibly thankful that some of the other girls from the team are in them, so they all chat together rather than paying attention to the lesson the teacher is trying to teach them.

Realizing that no one is listening the teacher decides to stop talking and instead just takes a seat at her desk pretending to do work, but not really.

Lunchtime finally arrives and Kelley catches up with Emily as she joins her and some of their mutual friends in the cafeteria.

“Hey Sonny, how’d your appointment go?”

Emily looks at her perhaps questioning how she knows before cluing in that her sister most likely filled in her freckled friend as to her whereabouts.

“Have to go back in a couple of weeks and get a filling.”

“That totally sucks!”

Emily nods, “Dentist suggested that perhaps I need to cut down on the amount of sugary stuff I eat.”

Kelley looks at her, “And what did you say?”

“My Mom was with me, so I just nodded and went with it, but there’s no way in heck I’m giving up my candy!”

Kelley laughs, “I would never give up my candy!”

A few hours later and Kelley along with most of the girls who tried out for the team are staring on the clocks on the wall and watching the hands slowly moving around until the bell finally rings to end the day and week.

Kelley flies out of her class, not even stopping at her locker before making the walk to the team board to see if she made it and also who else did.

She is the first to arrive and scans the paper, seeing her name on the list she lets out a loud, “Woohoo” and does a victory dance.

She hears laughing and finds Morgan watching her, “Nice moves you got there, KO.”

Kelley laughs and blushes in embarrassment, “Umm… thanks, I guess. You made the team too, you know.”

Morgan’s face lights up, “Really?”

Kelley smiles and nods as Morgan wraps her arms around her in celebration. As Morgan unwraps herself from Kelley, she misses the warmth and smell of her friend close.

“We get to play together, that’s awesome!”

“Totally, I can’t wait! So, we still on for tomorrow?”

“For sure. Call me and we’ll figure out the deets, later KO.”

“Bye, Moe.”

“Figured you would be bouncing off the walls right now, KO. What’s up?” Kelley notices that she isn’t alone in the hallway anymore.

“Nothing, just thinking. Congrats Sonny! This year is going to be so awesome, we are totally going to kick ass!”

“Language, Ms O’Hara.”

Emily bursts out laughing as Kelley gets scolded by a teacher passing by.

“Sorry Mr Smith, won’t happen again.”

Kelley and Emily walk together back to their lockers and swap out their stuff before making the walk home after having missed their bus.

“You got plans for the weekend?” Emily asks Kelley as they walk along and Kelley debates telling her that she is going to the movies with Morgan before simply stating, “I’m going to a movie with a friend, maybe grabbing a slice as well, what about you?”

“Nothing much, probably just the usual, homework, chores and Church on Sunday before going to see my Grandparents for family supper.”

“You need to have some fun, Sunny”

Emily shrugs, “I was contemplating looking for a job as well. I need to get out of the house more often and maybe my parents would let me keep the money rather than putting it towards my college fund.”

They arrive at the Sonnett’s house, “Have fun job hunting, Sunny. I’ll see you at Church.”

“See ya.”

As Kelley watches Emily make her way up the sidewalk and inside the house she can’t help but think about how different the two families are from each other. Her parents expect her to do stuff around the house and prioritize her schoolwork, but she is allowed to have a life as well and go out with friends on a regular basis.

Kelley walks into the O’Hara household and finds Erin on the couch watching Television.

“You make the team?”

“Of course, I did, was there ever really any doubt?”

Erin looks at her and shakes her head, before returning her focus to the show.

“Hey Er, do you think we could talk about something? It’s kinda important and I don’t feel comfortable talking to Mom about it.”

“Girl problem or Boy problem?”

Kelley looks at her, “What do you mean?”

“Is it to do with your period or sex?”

When Kelley doesn’t respond, Erin looks at her more closely and notices that her sister looks deep in thought. She sits up and taps the couch cushion beside her, “Sit.”

Kelley sits down beside her.

“What’s really going on Squirrel?”

“How do you know if you like someone just as a friend or like them as more than a friend?”

“You’ve been out with and hung around guys before, why are you asking this? Are you actually crushing on someone, Sis?”

“I think so, but the thing is, it’s not a guy.”

“A girl?” Kelley nods.

“Ohhh, how long has this been going on?”

“When I think about it, I always liked looking at the girls in school and on my teams, but I just figured it was normal stuff, you know?”

Erin nods, “But now?”

“There is a girl at school and on the soccer team and I asked her to go to a movie with me tomorrow, but the thing is she just broke up with her boyfriend and it may just have been my response to the news to try and make her feel better, right?”

“Kel, do you want to go to the movie with her?”

Kelley nods. “Then do it, try not to overthink the situation; go and enjoy it as you would with any of your friends and then figure it out afterwards if they may be something more to it than just friendship. Whatever happens, we can talk about it, okay?”

“Does it bother you that I think I might like girls?”

“Why would it? You’re my sister and as much as we drive each other nuts sometimes, I love you and only want you to be happy; besides that, if you like girls that means there are more guys for me.” Kelley playfully pushes her sister before hugging her, “Thanks, Er. Can we not mention this conversation to anyone, please?”

“No worries, Squirrel, my lips are sealed.” 

Saturday evening comes around and after Kelley changes her outfit a dozen times before being happy with the first choice she waits outside the theatre for Morgan to arrive. She sees a car stop out front and Morgan climb out of the backseat and walk over to her.

“Hey, Moe. I like your shirt.”

“Thanks, did you get the tickets already or do we still need to get them?”

“I waited to get them, so let’s go before they sell out.”

They head inside, get their tickets, drinks and opt to buy the biggest thing of popcorn available and share it.

Throughout the movie, Kelley catches herself watching Morgan and smiling when she laughs and when their hands touch each in the popcorn container, it’s like a jolt of electricity, but then again it could also be static charge from the old carpet in the room.

Once it finishes, they walk out talking about it and laughing as they walk to the pizza place to grab a slice.

Sitting down they eat and chat.

Kelley watches Morgan wipe sauce from the corner of her mouth and is hit with the realization that she really wants to kiss her.

“You know, KO, I’m really glad we’re friends, at my old school not many of the girls wanted anything to do with me, it’s nice having a girl friend.”

Kelley ponders the words, “Girl and friend.” Before smiling at Morgan, “Yeah, I’m glad we’re friends, too.”

“Do you know Scott Wheeler?”

“You mean, Wheels? Yeah, why?”

“I caught him looking at me a few times in class yesterday, do you think he’s interested in me?”

“You do realize that he dreams of being a professional skateboarder, right?”

“What’s wrong with that? At least he’s got a plan for the future, most people our age don’t.”

Kelley nods in agreement, “I just want to play soccer. You know there are talks of a women’s pro league coming within the next few years.”

“That would be awesome.”

“Yeah, it would be. So, Wheels? Huh? What makes you like him?”

“He’s cute and funny.”

Kelley listens as her internal dialogue plays the I’m cute and funny too card.

As they make their way out of the pizza place and are about to go off in different directions, Morgan once again hugs Kelley and smiles before walking away.

Kelley arrives home and heads into her room, listening to some music and trying to process her thoughts when Erin walks in

“How’d it go?”

Kelley points to the bedroom door to tell her to close it so that their parents don’t hear the conversation.

“It was really good.”

“But?”

“She likes guys and I’m a friend who also happens to be a girl.”


	5. Chapter 5

Erin hugs her sister, "I'm sorry, Squirrel; but there's plenty of fish in the sea, right?"

Kelley gives her sister a look. "You do realize how very few openly gay people are in this area, right? How the heck am I supposed to find someone when they don't want to be found?"

"Don't know, but I'm sure that based on the percentages there have to be at least a few lesbians in the school, it's just a matter of finding them. Are you really sure you like girls and only girls, Kel?"

Kelley nods, "Yep, pec and dick pics aren't doing it for me anymore."

Erin busts out laughing with Kelley, "Well, okay then, I guess we need to get you some breast and pussy ones."

"This conversation just got weird, time for you to leave my room now."

Erin laughs, "I'll see you in the morning."

The soccer season begins and with the team practicing and or playing games multiple times throughout the week, Kelley becomes extremely close to Moe, hanging around her whenever the latter isn't at the skatepark watching her boyfriend attempt to complete tricks for hours on end. Moe doesn't seem to mind as she generally takes the time to complete her homework or read. As far as Kelley is concerned Moe could do so much better than some dumbass who can barely speak English and treats his skateboard as if it's his prized possession rather than his girlfriend. She can't help but wish that the smiles and laughs and ... kisses Moe gives Wheels were directed in her direction, but she is doing her best not to cross that unwritten line with her and indicate her interest in her as anything other than a friend and teammate.

The soccer team makes its way through the regular season and the regionals undefeated, however, once they head to the State championships they are knocked off in the Semi-Finals by way of a sudden death shootout, ending their season without the big trophy they all coveted so much. 

Sitting and riding in the bus back to school the girls are all dealing with the loss in their own ways, most crying on their seatmate's shoulder or wrapped in each other's arms. Kelley sits with her arm wrapped around Moe and pulls her in tight as they absorb the loss together. 

Seeing hair on Moe's face, Kelley can't stop herself from moving it to the side and leaning over to kiss the top of Moe's head, "We'll get them next year, Moe." 

She feels Morgan stiffen up with her actions and immediately pulls back and away from her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." 

"It's okay, just don't do it again, okay?" Kelley nods and then spends the rest of the ride finding her fingers and hands interesting. 

Arriving back at the school, Kelley watches as Moe gets off the bus and walks right over to her boyfriend who surprisingly found time away from his ollies or whatever they're called to be there for her. He wraps his arms around her and she melts into his grasp.

Kelley walks over to her parents and cries on her Mom, Karen's shoulder. "There's always next year, Kelley." 

"Yeah, can we go home now, please?" 

Kelley follows her Mom to her car and gets in the passenger side, putting her seatbelt on and staring at the sights as they drive. 

"Mom, pullover." 

"Kelley?" 

"Please, just do it." 

Karen pulls her car over to the sidewalk and Kelley jumps out. She crosses the road and walks over to Emma and Emily who are walking home. 

"Your parents didn't come and get you?" They both shake their heads, "I'm sure they just forgot what time we would be arriving back." 

"Do you want a ride? I'm sure my Mom wouldn't mind." 

"It's okay, KO, we can walk." 

"In that case, I'm walking with you, let me just tell my Mom I'll meet her at home, later." 

Kelley runs back over and sends Karen on her way, before rejoining them for the walk. 

"You guys played really well today, you know." 

"Thanks, it just sucks that we lost in a shootout." 

"Yeah, I really wanted to drill a ball at that keeper when she was celebrating coming up with the save." 

Emma and Emily, both laugh, "She was a little over the top, wasn't she?" 

"You think?"

"Hey KO did something happen between you and Moe on the bus because I noticed she couldn't get off it quick enough and practically jumped in her boyfriend's arms." 

"Um... I kinda got caught up in the moment while trying to reassure her and kissed the top of her head, and she freaked out about it." 

"Oh, but it's not like you meant anything by it other than trying to comfort her, right?"

"Exactly, Em, so I don't know what set her off." 

"That's too bad, hopefully, you guys can talk about it and get beyond it." 

"I hope so." 

They stop out in front of the Sonnett's house and exchange hugs before Kelley continues on her way home. 

Walking in her front door, Kelley is greeted by Red, White and Blue decorations all over the house. 

"What's going on? Is Dad leaving again?" 

Dan appears in the room all smiles, "I'm not going anywhere, but you are, we got a call earlier today from US Soccer inviting you to participate in their upcoming U17 camp." 

Kelley screams, "OH MY GOD!! ARE YOU SERIOUS??"

Her parents smile and nod as Erin comes running and hugs her, "Sucks about your game today, Squirrel, but this is pretty awesome news, right?" 

Kelley smiles and walks over to hug her parents, "This is so awesome!"

Returning to school, the following day the morning announcements take about the girl's soccer team and also the fact that their leading scorer will be leaving in a few weeks to take part in the U17 Camp for US Soccer.

Kelley receives all sorts of congratulations and well wishes from her classmates, teammates and teachers, but she can't help but notice that Moe has remained distant from her. 

She decides rather than to let it eat away at her to focus her attention on training and being at her very best for the upcoming camp. 

On her last day of school before leaving, she opens her locker and finds a note that has been shoved through the slot, "Good luck. Moe." She smiles and tucks the note in her pocket along with putting her assignments and books in her bag before heading on her way down the hall and out the door to make the walk home from school, as she managed to miss the bus once again. 

"Mind if I walk with you?" 

Kelley smiles at Emily, "Not at all, you miss the bus too?" 

"Yeah, I was kept after my last class and given a lecture on how throwing things and I had to sweep the class." 

"What were you throwing?"

"Chunks of an eraser. It wasn't only me, Wheels was doing it too, but he didn't get caught. He's an idiot, I don't know what Moe sees in him." 

"Me either. So, you going to miss me while I'm gone?" 

"Nah, maybe I'll be able to get through a week without having to sit through lunchtime detention with Mr. Hilroy." 

Kelley laughs, "You think he would have learned that it wasn't a good idea to let us sit together in class." 

"I'm sure he's figured it out, just chooses to continue to punish me and not you, when you're the one always making me laugh." 

"Next time don't keep looking over my shoulder at my doodles then." 

"Can't help it, they're hilarious. Especially the dinosaur one." 

"It's supposed to be a dog, not a dinosaur, Sonny."

"Hey, I never said you're drawings were good KO, only funny." 

"I'll see you later, Son." 

"Good luck at camp, O'Hara." 

"I don't need luck, I gots the skills." 

Emily laughs before heading inside, leaving Kelley to walk by herself the remainder of the way home. 

Two weeks later

"SPLASH" 

"WHAT THE HELL?" Kelley jumps out of her bed and eyes up her sister who is laughing hysterically at her with an empty glass in hand. 

"Mom told me to get you up for school." 

"So you decided to drown me and my bed?" 

"Get over it Squirrel, it was one glass of water and you're up, aren't you?" 

"Oh, I'm up and you better start running." 

Erin bolts for the door and down the stairs screaming that Kelley is chasing her. 

"No running in the house!" 

"But Dad, she dumped water all over me." Dan looks at Kelley. "In that case take it outside." 

Kelley smiles as she chases Erin out the front door and then proceeds to lock it behind her. Erin soon realizes her mistake and turns back. 

"Let me in, Kel." 

Kelley watches her from the window and smiles before heading back up to her room to get changed and ready for school. 

She is in the bathroom trying to tame her wild hair when Erin makes a return appearance and snags her brush from the counter, "Mom, Erin took my brush!" 

"Erin, give your sister back her brush, even though it won't do her any good in taming that mess and get your butt ready for school."

"Yes, Mom." Erin throws the brush at her and Kelley is able to get her hand in the way before she gets clunked in the face. 

"What is your deal?" 

Erin heads into her room without responding to the question. 

Kelley heads downstairs and into the kitchen, "Mom, what's going on with Erin? She's even more of a pain in the butt than usual." 

"Bobby broke up with her while you were away and for some reason, it's all your fault that it happened." 

"I wasn't even here, so how could it be my fault?" 

"I think it may have something to do with the fact that Bobby and that Morgan girl from your soccer team are now apparently going out together." 

"Moe and Bobby?" 

Karen nods. "Okay, but how is that my fault?" 

Karen shrugs, "Ask your sister." 

Kelley waits for Erin to come downstairs, "I'm sorry about you and Bobby, but why are you mad at me about it?" 

Erin pulls her into the living room, "Because, if you had gotten her to like you then it wouldn't have happened." 

"You do realize that I have no control over who Moe likes, right? It doesn't work like that." 

"I know, it's just easy to take it out on you." 

"Well, it needs to stop right now and for your information, Moe and I haven't exactly been on talking terms as of late." 

"What happened?" 

"How about I tell you on the walk to school?"

Erin nods before collecting her stuff and heading out the door with Kelley. 

Kelley fills her in on the post-game bus incident and the kiss.

"You actually kissed her head?" 

"I got caught up in the moment and it just happened." 

"Well, I guess we now know two things." 

"What's that?" 

"Morgan is for sure not interested in you and isn't good with being alone, based on the fact that she no sooner broke up with Wheels then was hooking up with Bobby."


	6. Chapter 6

Kelley knocks on the Sonnett's front door and waits for it to be answered. 

The door opens and she finds Emma looking at her, "What's up, KO?" 

"I was looking for Sonny, she was supposed to meet me after school to hang out." 

"Oh, she didn't tell you about getting a job?" 

Kelley shakes her head, "No. She actually got a job, like a real job?" 

"Yeah, she's washing dishes at the Waffle House, started yesterday. The pay sucks but it's a start and my Dad is actually allowing her out of the house a bit more now because of it." 

"Well, I guess that's good then. Can you ask her to give me a call when she gets home?"

"She's supposed to be there until close, so don't expect a call until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, or maybe not at all." 

"Okay, well then I guess we can catch up after church on Sunday. I'll see later, Em." 

"Later, KO." 

Kelley makes the walk back home and then calls her best friend, Katie and asks if she wants to come over for a bit. 

Katie shows up with an overnight bag in hand, knowing that the chances are high that she will just end up staying over after they get their fill of the latest gossip, television shows and movies. 

"What's wrong, Kel, you're really quiet and it's totally unlike you." 

Kelley smirks, "Was just thinking." 

"That's what the burning smell was." 

"Shut up!" Kelley pushes her off the bed. 

"Make me O'Hara."

They go back and forth all evening and into the early hours of the morning before laying down on the bed together. 

"Hey, Kel, can I ask you something?" 

"Even if I say no, you'll ask anyway, so what do you want to know?" 

"Do you like girls? I mean I don't have a problem with it if you do, but I'm curious because you keep talking about Morgan and Emily like you want to be more than just friends with them." 

"I do like girls, but no one except Erin knows and I guess now you." 

"Okay." 

"Does that bother you?" 

"Nope, you're still the same Kelley who kicked a boy and made him cry because he called me fat. That's the day we became friends and we've had each other's back ever since." 

"You know, my Mom made me sit and the table and write lines for hours after that, but it was totally worth it." 

"You should have called me, I would've helped write them." 

"It's all good, but if it happens again, you'll be my first call." 

"Pretty certain your Mom doesn't threaten you with lines anymore." 

"Nope, she threatens to take away my soccer privileges and holds it over me that I'm going to want to get my licence soon as well."

"Parents suck!" 

They both laugh, before letting sleep take over. 

The next morning, they both head downstairs and grab a bowl of cereal before parking in front of the television. 

Kelley gets up to answer the front door when the doorbell rings out and opening it up finds Emily standing there. 

"I told Em to have you call me, you didn't need to come over." 

"I need some new pants and shoes for work, so I'm going shopping with my Mom, but I asked to stop and check-in with you first." 

"Oh okay, yeah, so you got a job and didn't tell me." 

"Sorry, it just kinda happened, we were there eating and I asked if they were hiring and next thing you know I was being shown how to work the machines and things for dishes."

"Cool, just don't forget about me when you make your first million." 

Emily and Kelley laugh. "Not a chance of me making a million, but hopefully enough to eventually buy a car. My Dad is insisting that I put half my paycheck into a savings account, so it could be a while before I can afford anything, but at least I get free waffles."

They hear a car horn honking, "That's my Mom, I should go; I'll see you at church, KO." 

"Bye, Sonny." 

Kelley rejoins Katie and they finish watching a few Saturday morning shows before Katie decides to head home. 

Being bored out of her mind, Kelley decides to grab a water bottle, a ball and her soccer bag and head to the field to work on some stuff. 

She turns and takes a shot on the goal only to send over top of the goal, "Damn it." Jogging over to get the ball, she sees someone else get to it first and pick it up. 

"Looking for this?" 

"Hey, Moe, how are you?" 

"Good, how was camp?" 

"It was so fun! I hope I get invited back." 

"I'm sure you will." 

"You want to play Moe? I could really use a partner." 

"Sure." 

They spend the next hour running around and having fun with the ball, before deciding to call it quits. 

They sit on the grass as Kelley switches out of her cleats and they have a drink. 

"So, umm, I wanted to apologize for what I did." 

"KO, it's fine, I overreacted and I'm really sorry. It's not like you meant anything by it, you were just trying to comfort me." 

"Yeah, that, exactly. So, we're good?"

"We're good." 

"Are you still dating Erin's sloppy seconds?" 

Morgan laughs, "Yes." 

Kelley stands up, "I should head home and get cleaned up, I can smell myself and that's not a good thing. Call me if you want to hang sometime, ok?" 

Morgan nods, "I'll do that." 

Kelley makes the walk home and drops her stuff at the front door, before heading upstairs to shower. 

"KELLEY MAUREEN O'HARA, GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!!" 

She quickly throws on some clothes and runs downstairs, "Whatever it is, I didn't do it, Erin did!"

"So, you're saying that the bag of soccer stuff that I just tripped over at the front door is Erin's?" 

"No, that would be mine." 

"How many times have you been told not to drop your stuff in the middle of the doorway?" 

"A few times." 

"A few too many times, so now you can spend the afternoon helping your Dad with yard work." 

"But, I just showered, I don't want to get all sweaty again." 

"Then you should have taken the extra second and made sure your bag was out of the way." 

"Fine." 

Kelley heads outside to find her Dad raking and bagging leaves and then cutting the grass. 

She's covered in sweat, dirt and grass when she comes inside for supper, "You stink, Squirrel, go shower." 

Kelley is too tired to even come up with a comeback for Erin's comment and heads back upstairs for another shower. 

The next morning she once again finds herself fighting to tame her hair for the weekly church service. 

"Let's go, Kelley!" 

"Coming!" 

They all head out to the car and arrive at the church a few minutes later. Kelley smiles when she sees Emma and Emily standing outside. 

"Stay out of trouble, it reflected very poorly on us when you walked into the service late and scrapped up from climbing trees last week." 

"Sonny challenged me to see who could climb higher and I won." 

"I don't think that Sonnett girl is the best influence on you, Kelley perhaps you need to make some new friends."

"It's all good, Mom, I promise." 

Over the next several months with Kelley drawing increased interest from the National team and needing to keep herself relevant when she isn't at school, working on homework, hanging with her friends and or family she can be found on the field working on her skills or in the school gym and weight room working out. 

While she has been doing this Sonny has been completing her household chores, keeping her grades up and also working whenever possible to save up for a car, but her parents don't necessarily know that that's her end game.

Aside from seeing each other in passing at school or church, they begin to lose contact with each other.


	7. Chapter 7

Jump ahead to the end of their Junior year at Starr's Mills High with the soccer team already having won back to back Championships with Kelley being their leading scorer each season. 

Morgan continues to play on the team while cycling through boyfriends. Her and Kelley talk but are nowhere as close as they once were due to their different priorities.

Emma and Emily both are still a huge part of the team, however, Emma is part of a different crowd and her and Kelly generally don't hang or talk off the field. Emily is still spending most of her time working at the Waffle House and has progressed out of the dish room to being a shift Manager. She has now saved up enough money to purchase a slightly used car, which is her pride and joy. 

Kelley is the Captain of the team and their leader, she has continued to draw interest from US Soccer, representing them at a few competitions and camps. After she began "dating" a girl from a neighbouring school, she was forced to come clean about her sexuality to her parents and close family members and to her surprise, it was met by a reaction of "We've known all along, and it doesn't change anything." Although the relationship with the girl didn't last it allowed Kelley to understand more about herself, her wants and needs. Kelley is now seeing one of the school's softball players, but when asked the two just pass their closeness off as friendship so as not to feed the gossip mongers. 

As the final bell of the school year rings out the students celebrate, and exit the building as quickly as possible to get their summer vacation started. 

Kelley stays behind and waits for Katie to join her for the walk home. When she appears walking down the hallway, she and Kelley hug and then start walking and talking.

As the summer starts, Kelley and Katie spend most of their team together except for when Kelley is participating in US Camp or games. One weekend with her parents away, Kelley invites Katie to stay over and not having to worry about being interrupted, you can guess what happened a few times during the weekend. 

Unfortunately for Kelley, Katie was invited to take part in a Softball Showcase in Atlanta and subsequently joined an elite team and league for the balance of the summer, travelling all over Georgia and playing. It means the demise of their relationship as Katie admits to getting together with her roommate on the team. 

Erin seeing her sister heartbroken suggests a trip to the Waffle House for some comfort food, which then leads to it becoming a regular occurrence for the two.

As they arrive and are seated, Kelley smiles as she sees Emily making the rounds and checking in with the employees. After they place their orders, Kelley flags down Emily. 

"Hey KO, Erin, what brings you here on this beautiful day?" 

"Erin seems to think that eating some waffles covered in the fixings will help me feel better." 

"You sick?" 

Kelley shakes her head and Erin pipes up, "She got dumped." 

"Ohh, sorry to hear, I wasn't aware that you were seeing anyone." 

"I didn't advertise it."

Emily nods and with her name being called she says bye and gets back to work. 

"Er, what the heck, you know I can't be open about who I am or am in a relationship with. It's one thing for our family to accept it, but I'm fairly certain the church and everyone around Mom and Dad won't." 

"Sorry, but I didn't say you got dumped by a girl only that you got dumped." 

"And that's embarrassing enough on its own, info like that could ruin my rep." 

Erin laughs and shakes her head as their orders arrive and they start eating. 

"Do you have your eye on anyone at school, Kel?" 

"I do, but she isn't available or interested in me." 

"Let me guess, you still have a thing for Morgan." 

Kelley nods, "There's just something about her that I find attractive." 

"As do the lineup of guys she's been with in the past few years; it's like a revolving door with her." 

"Don't talk about her like that; you're just still upset that Bobby dumped you for her." 

"If it means anything I happen to know that he only dumped you because you wouldn't sleep with him and he figured that Morgan would." 

"Did she?" 

"You do realize I'm not exactly on a level with Moe that I can ask that question of her, right?" 

Erin shrugs and they finish up eating, pay the bill and then make their way out. 

"I was supposed to train this aft and now I'm so full I feel like I'm gonna burst at the seams." 

"Then I guess training is off the table unless you plan on making yourself throw up." 

"That's not going to happen, let's go home; feels like a good day to watch some movies and chill." 

Kelley decides to spend the balance of the summer hanging with her friends, going surfing and training rather than thinking about having a relationship. 

As she enters her Senior and final year at Starr's Mills High, Kelley has no idea what awaits as not only will she make and leave her mark on the field but also off of it. 

The first day of the new school year rolls around and for the first time in her life, Kelley is excited about getting back at it. She knows that she will need to work her butt off in order to secure a scholarship for University for the next season. 

As her alarm goes off she is up, showered and dressed in no time and heads downs to have some breakfast before heading to the bus stop. 

"Morning, Mom." 

"Wow, will wonders never cease, the Kelley O'Hara actually up without a fight and wearing a smile." 

Kelley laughs, "Very funny, Mom." 

After finishing her breakfast, she heads back upstairs to finish getting ready and kick Erin out of the shower, so she can brush her teeth. 

Kelley hearing the water running decides to flush the toilet and awaits the reaction. She isn't disappointed in the least when Erin screams out about the water turning cold. 

Kelley laughs at Erin's look towards her when she gets out, "What you were taking too long." 

"I'm telling Mom on you." 

"Go ahead, do you really think I'm going to get in trouble for flushing the toilet?" 

Erin shakes her head as she walks into her room and closes the door behind her. 

With the bathroom free, Kelley finishes getting ready before collecting her bag and heading back downstairs. 

"Bye Mom, bye Dad!" Kelley skips out the front door and makes her way to the bus stop. 

Kelley stands at waits at the bus stop and hopes to see some friendly faces, but then remembers Sonny has a car, so she and Emily most likely drove instead of riding the bus. Morgan shows up with her newest boyfriend and she smiles at Kelley before starting to make out with him. 

Seeing them in action and him grabbing Morgan's butt, acts as a major turn off for Kelley and she debates about just walking the rest of the way to school versus being subjected to their display. 

The bus comes down the road before she makes her choice and she quickly climbs aboard and stares out the window, seeing Emily's car drive by as the others continue to climb on.

After sitting through the obligatory welcome back assembly and heading to their assigned homerooms, they sit and listen to the morning announcements. Kelley smiles when her soccer team is acknowledged and it mentioned that the sign up for tryouts is now open. 

With the day mostly being about getting into a routine and establishing their schedules and the whereabouts of their lockers, it goes by in a blur as Kelley takes the time to catch up with her friends and teammates. 

When 3:00 comes, Kelley decides to head towards the gym and check out the clipboard to see who has signed up for this year's team and tryouts. Flipping through, she sees most of the same names with a few exceptions of newbies who think they've got a chance at making her team. 

She laughs before placing her name on the list and setting the clipboard back in its place. 

"Nice to see you back, Kelley." 

"Nice to be back, Coach. How was your summer?" 

"Good, My boyfriend and I got engaged." 

"Congratulations, have you set a day yet?" 

"Not yet. How was your summer? I heard you were recalled to the US team again." 

"Yeah, it was fun playing with the girls again. I trained hard all summer and I hope that I can keep my grades up and earn a scholarship this year." 

"You already created a lot of buzz around yourself with the season you had last year, keep it up and I'm sure you'll have no problem getting into any school you want. Any new names on the list this year?" 

"A few, there are thankfully a few girls who listed keeper as their position." 

"Good, we have a big spot to fill between the pipes with Stacey's departure." 

Kelley nods, "I should get going, I probably already missed the bus; hopefully the rain holds out until I get home." 

"If you can wait around for another 10 minutes, I'll give you a lift home, we can talk about what I expect of you this season as our Captain." 

"Sounds good, I'll be outside." 

Kelley heads out and grabs a seat on the steps to wait for the Coach. As she does she can't help but notice that Emily's car is still in the parking lot. She takes a walkover and not seeing her, she figures perhaps that the defender just got caught up talking with a teacher or another student. 

"You ready to go, Kelley?" 

Kelley makes her way over and climbs in the car. She and the Coach review their team and players and agree that Kelley will be charged with learning how to motivate them to perform to the best of their abilities.

She agrees to have a sit down with the Coach the next day after school, so they can come up with some fresh plays and ideas for the girls before the tryouts start up the following week. 


	8. Chapter 8

"Alright, everyone in." 

The girls form a circle around the Coach. 

"For those of you who've played for me and on the team previously, "Welcome Back," and to the handful of new recruits, "Welcome." Now, as is customary I generally have the Captain of the team lead the warmups, so Kelley, you're up." 

"Thanks, Coach. We're going to start with three laps around the field and then do a group stretch before we get into some skills and drills." Kelley smiles at them, proud of her status as the leader of the reigning champions. "Let's hit it, follow me." 

Kelley starts jogging down the sideline as the other girls follow her while the Coach and her student Assistant get pinnies and cones organized. 

After being separated into positions, sides and teams they complete a variety of basic foot skills and passing drills, before working towards a full field game to finish out. 

Two hours later, the Coach blows her whistle and calls them in. 

"Good session everyone, I'll see you back out here on Thursday and I'll be posting the names of those who make the team Friday afternoon outside of my office." 

The girls head towards the bleachers to change their shoes before making their way inside the school to shower and get changed for home. 

Kelley walks outside and is cutting through the parking lot when she hears a rather loud discussion between Emma and Emily. She doesn't catch the majority of what is said except for Mom and Dad and then work. 

She hears Emily's car drive by her a short time later headed in the direction of the Waffle House and doesn't think anything of it. 

Kelley is up and at 'em early Thursday morning, which catches her parent's attention. 

"Is there something we should know, Kelley?" 

Kelley looks at her parents puzzled, "Huh? I didn't do anything I swear!" 

"We were just discussing the spring in your set and smile on your face this morning and wondering if perhaps you met someone." 

"No, nothing like that, unfortunately, the final tryout for the soccer team is today and the team will be announced tomorrow."

"Now it makes sense why you've been up on time and in a good mood this week. Good luck, honey, even though I'm sure you don't need it." 

"Nope, I got my position locked down." 

"Good to hear, make sure you let us know your schedule, so we can coordinate for the games." 

"I will." 

Kelley finishes up her breakfast before double-checking she has everything she needs for school and tryouts and then making sure to flush the toilet while Erin is taking her usual extra long shower. 

"SQUIRREL!!" 

Kelley laughs as she jogs down the stairs. "Must you do that every day to her?" Karen asks her while laughing as well. 

"Yep, not apologizing. I'll see you after school, Mom." 

After stopping to put on her shoes and grab a jacket, Kelley starts the walk to the bus stop.

She sees Morgan sitting on the curb and takes a spot beside her, "Morning, Moe, you ready for tryouts this aft?" 

"Yep, can't wait." 

"You okay Moe? You look a little down?" 

"Tim and I broke up yesterday after school." 

"Oh, I'm sorry, umm which one was Tim again?" 

"The guy with the mohawk and leather jacket." 

"And the motorcycle!" 

Moe smiles and nods, "And the motorcycle." 

"You're okay though, right?" 

Moe nods, "Yeah, I was only dating him to upset my parents. They keep trying to set me up with "Good boys," who go to church with their parents on Sundays." 

Kelley laughs, "Can't say that I know the feeling, but I agree with your response to it. How did your parents take the news of the breakup?" 

"My Mom baked a cake for supper to celebrate." 

"Wow, he must have really done a number on them." 

"It was perfect, I'm actually going to miss him because underneath all of that ink and piercings he was a decent guy and really smart, he helped me with my homework." 

"Why you had someone who willingly helped you with your homework and you let them get away, what's wrong with you?" 

"It's not a matter of what's wrong with me, it's what's up with him." 

"I don't get it." 

"Don't let this get out, but Tim isn't really into girls if you know what I mean." 

"He's gay?" 

Moe nods, "But don't tell anyone because if his family was to find out it wouldn't go over very well for him, they are rather small-minded about things like that."

"What about you, Moe are you small-minded about things like that?" 

"No, I think you should be with whoever makes you happy regardless of whether the Bible declares it to be a sin or not." 

Kelley smiles and they both stand up as the bus arrives and board. 

Climbing off the bus at school, they go their separate ways and Kelley hanging out with some of her friends and chatting notices Emma and Emily arrive together and seemingly in deep discussion before Emma hugs her sister and goes her own way. 

Kelley walks over to Emily, "Everything ok, Sonny?" 

Emily nods before walking away from her and into the school. 

Kelley figuring that maybe it's just some sort of issue between her and Emma decides to leave it alone and goes back to her group and then to class when the first bell rings. 

Later that afternoon, Kelley is sitting at her desk bouncing in her chair and nervously tapping her pencil on it, much to the dismay of those around her. 

"Ms. O'Hara, please stop what you are doing, you are bothering your classmates." 

"Umm, oh, sorry, I didn't realize, my bad." 

Kelley sets the pencil down on her desk and watches as the hands move slowly for the last 10 minutes of the school day. 

Finally, the bell rings, two minutes late according to the clock on the wall and she bolts quickly from the classroom and heads to her locker.

"Ms. O'Hara?" Kelley turns around to face her teacher as she collects her gym bag. "Yeah?" 

She is handed her textbook that she left on the desk, "Read pages 101 - 119 for tomorrow." 

"Thank you." 

Kelley shoves the book in her bag along with everything else before heading to the gym and change room to get ready for the try-out. 

After leading her blue team to a 5 - 4 victory over the green team, Kelley celebrates with her teammates before being called in by their Coach. 

"Nice goal, Kelley. Everyone complete your cool down and for those of you who make the team, the first practice will be Monday afternoon and for those of you who don't thank you for coming out and I hope to see you back again next season." 

Kelley stays behind and talks with the Coach for a few minutes before joining Moe for cooldown and then heading inside to shower and change. 

As her and Moe walk home they talk about the try-outs and whatever else comes up. 

"Hey, Moe, I know that we really haven't been as close as we once were lately, do you think we could change that? I've really enjoyed hanging with you again." 

Moe smiles and nods, "I'd like that. It's our senior year and I need to be more focused on getting good grades and playing well enough to get noticed on the field by some D1 teams and less focused on having a boyfriend." 

"Sounds like a good plan to me, having a boyfriend will only weigh you down Moe bean." 

Moe laughs and they continue to walk and talk until arriving at her house. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, KO." 

"Bye, Moe." 

Kelley whistles as she finishes making the remainder of the walk home by herself. 

3:00 can't come soon enough the following day even though she is 100% certain she is on the team, she wants to know which of the new goalkeepers, the Coach opted to go with and also wants to make sure that Morgan, Emma and Emily will all be returning to play alongside her and defend their titles.

Collecting what she needs from her locker for the weekend, she heads to the hallway leading towards the gymnasium and finds a group already forming around the board and list. 

"Any surprises, Em?"

"She went with that girl Jane in goal." 

"I kinda figured as much, she was pretty good any other changes?" 

Emma shakes her head, "I'll see you later, KO." 

Kelley makes her way through the group and scans the list, not being surprised at all to find her name at the top with the word, Captain written beside it. 

After she makes the rounds congratulating everyone, Kelley heads out towards home and noticing Emily's car still in the parking lot, she looks around for her and doesn't see any trace of her friend so she heads on her way. 

She spends her Saturday playing in a tournament for her local team, which they end up winning thanks to her 2 goals in the final match. 

The next morning she only wants to sleep in but Erin busts into her room demanding she gets up and ready for church with the 'rents. 

"Don't want too, tired." 

"Get up and get ready Squirrel, I'm sure you won't be able to resist telling anyone who will listen about the brilliance of your play yesterday, that and the fact that it's the Turner family's turn to bring refreshments and I know how much you love her cookies." 

Kelley hears the word cookies and her eyes open, "How long do I have?" 

"Not long I kinda waited until the last minute to get you because well, paybacks a bitch, Sis." 

Erin laughs as she walks out of Kelley's room. 

Kelley scrambles around to put together a suitable outfit for the Sunday event and then stands in front of the mirror trying to tame the mess of bedhead she has, she gives up and sticks it in her usual ponytail before making her way downstairs to find her parents still drinking their coffees. 

"What the?" 

Erin laughs, "Got ya!" 

"Damn it, I'm going to kill you." 

"No killing on Sunday's, Kelley, you know that, wait until tomorrow." 

Kelley laughs at her Dad's comment before sitting down to eat a bowl of cereal and some fruit with her parents. 

Arriving at church, Kelley looks around for Emma and Emily and sees their parents but not them. 

"Excuse me, Mr. Sonnett, where are Emma and Emily?" 

"Emma is helping her Grandparents today." 

He doesn't answer where Emily is, so Kelley just assumes that she is helping them out as well and goes about entertaining herself before, during and after the service. 

Monday at school, Kelley smiles when she sees Emily, "How was helping the Grandparents?" 

Emily looks at her puzzled, "Huh?" 

"Your Dad mentioned that you guys weren't at church because you were helping your Grandparents." 

"Oh, umm, okay. I'll see you at practice, KO, I have to meet with the guidance counsellor." 

Several weeks pass and while the team continues to practice hard and play well together, remaining undefeated through their first few games, Kelley and a few of the other girls can't help but notice and make comments about Emily's less than stellar play during the time period. When one of the girls mentions to Kelley about asking the coach to perhaps bench her for the next game, Kelley decides to see if she can find out what's going on with or bothering the team's number one defender. 

After practice one afternoon, Kelley pulls her aside and asks to speak with her in private. Emily follows her over to the bleachers and goes about taking off her cleats, socks and shinguards while Kelley talks. 

Emily doesn't respond to Kelley's questions directly nor does she make eye contact with her which only heightens Kelley's concerns. 

"You can talk to me Sonny, what's going on? I know something is wrong and I want to help not only as the Captain of the team but also your friend." 

Emily looks at her, "It's nothing, Captain, I'm okay, I should go now, I can't be late for work."

Kelley watches as the defender collects her belonging and heads into the school to shower and change before reemerging in her Waffle House uniform and heading out to her car. 

A few days later and Kelley is sitting with her Erin at the local Waffle House awaiting their breakfast when she sees Emily propped up in a booth with her eyes closed. She decides to watch Emily and see if she is just resting on her break.

As they eat, Kelley sees Emily reach for her phone to shut off an alarm and get back out of the booth, presumably returning to work but Kelley can't shake the feeling that there is something wrong. 

After they finish eating, Kelley drops Erin off at a friend's place and then circles back to the Waffle House to watch and wait.

Hours later, Emily emerges from the restaurant and makes her way over to her car in the back corner of the lot. Kelley watches from afar as Emily opens the door to the backseat, removes her shoes and climbs in, shutting the door behind her. 

Kelley gets out of her car and walks over to Emily's. She is shocked by what she sees in it. Emily is curled up with a pillow and blanket asleep on the back seat, surrounded by wrappers, garbage and clothes. 

She now has a better idea of what may be going on with her friend, from the looks of things; she's been living in her car for a while.


	9. Chapter 9

Kelley returns home afterwards and asks to speak with her parents, Karen and Dan, claiming it to be about something important. They all sit down at the kitchen table and wait for Kelley to start talking. 

"What's going on? You wouldn't ask to speak with both of us unless it's something serious. You're not pregnant, are you?"

"Sorry to disappoint you Mom, I haven't decided to switch teams, I'm still gay. But I do have something possibly serious that I need your input on. Do you remember the Sonnetts, Bill and Jane?

"Yes, we see them every Sunday at church with their daughters, although for the past few weeks there has only been one of the girls with them."

"Can we please keep this conversation between us, it pertains to Emily and maybe why she hasn't been around her family lately."

"Of course, Kelley. You've piqued our interest; now can you please tell us what's going on."

"I think they may have kicked Emily out of the house."

"Why would you say that?" 

"Just listen and let me explain before you respond ok?"

Karen and Dan both agree, so she continues.

"For about the past month or so, Emily hasn't been herself on or off the field. I pulled her aside and tried to speak with her about things, but she brushed me off. This morning Erin and I went for our monthly sister trip to the Waffle House for breakfast and I saw her sleeping in one of the booths. Her alarm went off and she went back to work but something about it didn't sit well with me, so after I dropped Erin off, I went back and staked out the place. At the end of her shift, I watched as she walked to her car and climbed in the back seat of it. I went over to see if I could talk to her and found her asleep with a pillow and blanket and the car covered in wrappers, garbage and clothes. I didn't want to wake her, 'cause I didn't know what to say to her so I came back home, to ask you guys what I should do about it."

Kelley looks at her parents for advice and is surprised when her Mom stands up from the table, "What we are going to do right now, is to go look and see if we can locate her and if so, bring her back here. It's not safe for her to be sleeping in her car and we have a guest room that's currently being underutilized."

"Thanks, Mom."

Kelley and Karen head out of the house to locate Emily, while Dan prepares the guest room for her. They drive straight to the Waffle House and find the parking lot mostly empty and no sign of her car.

"She probably couldn't stay here without the car being noticed. Let's check around the area."

They drive around for a while with no luck locating the car or Emily, so they return home, empty-handed.

Dan waits for them to come home and greets them at the door, "Any luck?" They both shake their heads, "No sign of her car anywhere." 

"Kelley, you should head to bed now, hopefully, she will be at school tomorrow and you can talk to her about everything. If not, then we'll go out searching for her again afterwards."

"Yeah, maybe, night Mom, Dad. Thanks."

"Night, Kelley. Try not to worry, everything will work out." 

Kelley heads upstairs to her room, gets changed and ready for bed before putting on some music and falling into a restless sleep, thinking about her friend and teammate and being concerned about her well being. 

The next morning Kelley after having barely gotten any sleep during the night, throws on some clothes, collects her stuff for school and then heads down to get something to eat before borrowing her Mom's car and driving to school early in hopes of perhaps spotting Emily or her car there. She gets lucky when she spots the vehicle parked in the far corner of the lot and parks beside it. 

She walks over to it, to see if by chance Emily is inside but she isn't. Kelley heads into the building earlier than she ever has in her entire scholastic career and the halls are mostly empty aside from a few teachers and custodians. She drops her bag in her locker before making the rounds with no sign of Emily. 

The last place she thinks to check is the change room, she heads that way and sees some clothes laid out and hears the shower running. She takes a seat and waits to see if it's Emily. Sure, enough it is. Emily comes out and gets herself dressed as Kelley sits there watching on. The defender doesn't seem all that surprised to find her waiting for her and takes it all in stride. 

"Why are you here, KO, I told you that I was, okay." 

"You're clearly not doing okay Sonny, now, please, tell me what's going on. I know that you've been living in your car. I want to help you, what can I do?"

"There's nothing you or anyone can do, KO. There are only a few months of the school year left and once it's over I'm out of here."

"Sonny, please, it's just you and me; we've known each other since you moved here, you're one of my best friends and I should have realized before now that things were going on with you and I'm sorry that I didn't, now, I'm not leaving until you talk to me." 

"You really want to know what happened?" Emily looks at her with tears streaming down her face. "I told my parents that I liked girls and they kicked me out, told me that they never wanted to see me again and that I was a disgrace to the family."

"I'm really sorry Em, but why couldn't you just tell me that? Why did you feel the need to hide it? Especially from me."

"Because you have the perfect family and I'm sure that they would accept you if you were gay."

"My family is far from perfect but you're right about them accepting me if I was or am gay. Which by the way, I am gay Sonny, and my family know and accept it, even if they may not be always happy about it."

"You're gay??" Emily stares at Kelley wide-eyed.

Kelley smiles at her, "Yep, and I like rainbows and unicorns."

Emily laughs at her and Kelley seizes the opportunity to wrap her arms around her friend and hold her for a few minutes. 

"Now that we've established, we both bat for the same team, how about we play hooky today and head back to my place to chill, because I don't know about you but I'm exhausted!"

"I don't know if I should. I promised Ms. Hill that I wouldn't miss any more classes." 

Kelley smiles, "Leave that to me, I'll tell Jody that you're with me today. She loves me."

"Are you sure, I don't want to get either of us in trouble, I need a scholarship in order to get out of here." 

"You'll be okay, Sonny, I promise. Things are going to be changing, for the better for you, now." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Sonny, when I found out about you sleeping in your car I spoke with my parents about it and no pressure, but they made the guest room ready for you and told me to tell you that you were welcome to stay for as little or as long as need be. Please let me do this for you, it's my duty as your Captain and friend to look after you."

"Are you really sure it's okay with your parents? Because honestly, I would love to be able to sleep in a real bed again, the back seat of my car, isn't very comfy and my back has been hurting non-stop."

"Yep, grab your stuff. I need to stop at my locker and get my bag, but then we can go home."

"Um Kelley, I don't know if I have enough gas to drive to your house and I don't get paid for another few days."

Kelley laughs, "It's okay, I gotcha. Now c'mon before we are spotted and get in shit for ditching."

Over the next few months, Emily settles in with the O'Hara family as though she is one of their own; even going so far as to attend church with them on Sundays as her parents watch with sour looks on their faces and Emma a smile. Karen also has no issue with making it known to the church community exactly why Emily is staying with them and shaming her parents for their actions.

Along with winning an unprecedented 3rd Championship in a row after finishing their season undefeated, thanks in large part to the resurgence of their top defender, a strong midfield and Kelley finding the back of the net seemingly at will. 

Their play on the field generates a ton of attention and exposure for the Seniors on the team with all of them receiving scholarship offers from top-level teams. 

Unfortunately for Kelley and Emily the offers come at a point in their lives when they are starting to realize that the feelings they have for each other are more than those of just being close friends and or roommates. 

Kelley receives a full-ride scholarship offer from Stanford University, her dream school and debates accepting the offer because of Emily and the distance between there and Virginia where she will be headed to play soccer and attend classes in the Fall. 

Kelley sits on her bed and Erin comes walking in, "Mom called you for supper and sent me to come and check on you when you didn't come running for food. What's that?" 

Kelley hands her the paper in her hand, "Are you seriously thinking about turning down Stanford?" 

"I don't want to, but ..." 

Erin sits beside her, "But Emily won't be there and you've fallen for her." 

"Is it that noticeable?"

"Yeah, even Mom and Dad have picked up on the looks you give her when you think that no one is watching. You have to go to Stanford and chase your dreams, Squirrel, and if you and Emily are meant to happen, you will. Now, come on supper is getting cold." 

After lots of soul searching and Chick Fil A, Kelley accepts the scholarship offer from Stanford and her parents throw a party for both her and Emily, inviting all their friends. 

Emily lights up when she sees her sister Emma walk in behind Erin and runs over to hug her. "I'm so glad you're here Em." 

"I wouldn't have missed it, I'm proud of you." 

"I never really thanked you for helping me out while I was living in my car, bringing me food, money and doing my laundry; so thank you, I love you, Sis."

"I love you, too and I really wish you could have seen Mom and Dad's reaction when it was announced at church about your scholarship; they both looked like the wanted to hide under the pews, it was awesome!" 

"Sorry, I missed it. I should get back to mingling, but stick around for a while and don't leave without saying goodbye, okay?"

Emma smiles and nods, "Go and have fun, you deserve it and while you're at it, how about you plant a big kiss on Kelley, because it's obvious to everyone that you want to." 

Emily smiles at her sister before walking over to Kelley and pulling her into another room and surprising her by kissing her. Kelley wraps her arms around Emily and pulls her in closer, deepening the kiss in the process.

They separate and hold each other, smiling shyly before moving for another kiss. 

"ABOUT BLOODY TIME YOU FIGURED IT OUT!"

"Erin, get the hell out of here!" 

"Nah, I'm good; although I owe Dad $20 now because ya'll lock lips before graduation."

"You bet Dad about when we would kiss or get together?" 

"Get together, why?" 

"Well, we aren't together yet, but I'm hoping that that's about to change if Em agrees to be my girlfriend. So will you be my girlfriend, Sonny?" 

Emily leans in and kisses her, "Yes." 

When it comes time for graduation that year, Dan and Karen cheer for both Emily and Kelley as they make their way across the stage to collect their High School diplomas.


	10. Chapter 10

Kelley and Emily lay in bed, wrapped in each other in a hotel room in Orlando, Florida after celebrating Emily making her debut with the USWNT and playing the entire 90 minutes in their Victory Tour game against Brazil.

Kelley leans over and kisses her, "I'm proud of you Sonny." 

"I never would have gotten here if it wasn't for you and your family, KO; I love you and I really wish that you could have been beside me on the backline tonight. Becky is amazing and I'm sure I'll learn a ton from her, but she isn't you." 

"I love you, too and I'm sure that tonight was just the first of many games with the USWNT for you to come. We've both worked our butts off to get here and now that we have, I fully intend for us both to stay here."

"Oh, really and how exactly do you plan on doing that?" 

"Em, less talking and more action, Tobin will be back soon and we aren't going to see each other again until Thanksgiving." 

After making love once more they fall asleep and are awoken by a group of players surrounding them and the bed. 

Kelley waking up first looks around and gets her bearing before ensuring that Emily and she are both covered up. 

"Consider yourselves busted. Now, start explaining." 

"We'll explain everything, but can you give us a few minutes of privacy to get dressed first?" 

"You got five minutes, KO." 

Emily and Kelley look at each other and laugh, "Not exactly the way we planned on revealing our relationship, but it'll work." 

They both collect their clothes from around the room and put them back on before opening the door and allowing the group to come back inside. 

Alex, Tobin, Christen, Ashlyn and Ali come in and take up places around the room. 

"Spill. How long has this been going on for and how is it that as your best friend I had no idea about it?"

Kelley looks at Alex, "Seriously, Janice you never once questioned the amount of time I spent on the phone with Emily or how we spent every waken moment of our offseason together?" 

"I thought you guys were just good friends." 

"We're good friends alright, kinda like Ash and Ali and Tobs and Pressy are." 

"How long have the two of you been together?" 

"Since a bit before we graduated High School, it's been easy for us to hide the relationship until now as we go to different schools and well, Sonny only just got called up to join the USWNT." 

"I kinda knew but figured if you wanted to tell me you would," Christen speaks up. 

"It wasn't that we didn't want you guys to know, we just chose to keep our relationship on the down-low because we didn't want to take the chance that it might prevent us from playing together on the US team." 

"So, what's the plan for the two of you? Any wedding bells in the future?" 

Ali smacks Ashlyn's arm, "What?" 

"That's not our business, Ash." 

Emily and Kelley look at each other and smile, "We've actually discussed it, but we're both still in University and want to finish before we make a further commitment to each other." 

"That's fair and for what it's worth I think the two of you are really cute together and it's obvious that you make each other happy, so more power to you." 

Noticing that Alex wants to speak with Kelley alone, Ashlyn and Ali make their way to the door, followed by Christen pulling Tobin, "It's my room, why do I have to leave?" "Tobs, we can go to my room and snuggle, now let's go." 

Emily stands up and hugs Kelley, before placing a gentle kiss on her lips, "I love you." 

Kelley smiles, "I love you, too, Sonny." Kelley watches as Emily makes her way out of the room. 

Kelley looks at Alex, who signals for her to sit back down and she does so. 

"I always felt like you were keeping something from me, but I never imagined it was Emily; I guess now everything kinda makes sense." 

"What do you mean it makes sense?" 

"The fact that while everyone around us was drinking, partying and sleeping around you weren't." 

"To be honest, Alex, I have done my share of drinking and partying while at Stanford, but you're right I haven't cheated on Em, I love her too much to do that to her." 

"I get that you love her, the big question is what are you planning on doing about it?" 

"If you must know, I'm planning on proposing after her commencement at U of V." 

"WHAT? OH MY GOD, ARE YOU SERIOUS?" 

"Shh!! Yes, now, can we go back to focusing on playing ball rather than my love life?" 

Alex shakes her head, "No, this is too big!" 

"I was considering asking you to be a part of the wedding, but if you can't keep the proposal a secret then I will definitely have to reconsider that and possibly our friendship."

"Okay, I'll be good I promise! Do you have the ring yet?"

Kelley shakes her head, "I could probably use your help when it comes to choosing one." 

"That I can definitely do. I'm so excited right now!" 

"Stop! Go find your husband and work some of your excitement out on him." 

Alex smiles, "Don't mind if I do. I'll see you in the morning, Kel."

Six months later and Alex helps Kelley in locating the perfect ring for Emily. 

After picking up the ring her and Alex sit, chat eat and have a few drinks together. 

"You still sure about this?" 

"Never surer about anything in my life, I want to make Emily my wife. Oh, I'm a poet and I didn't know it!" 

Alex shakes her head, "Have another drink, Kel."

Karen, Dan, Erin and Emily watch on and cheer loudly as Kelley's name is called and she makes the walk across the stage, shakes a bunch of hands and smiles brightly as she receives her piece of paper. 

A few days later and it's a switch as they make their way to Charlottesville, VA along with Emma and watch on proudly as Emily completes her four-year Sociology journey. 

Later that evening as they all eat and celebrate their daughters' graduations, Emily is surprised when roses are delivered to the table and placed in front of her, then glasses of champagne placed in front of everyone and finally Kelley sliding out of her chair, taking Emily's hand and dropping down on one knee. 

"I had a whole speech prepared but forgot the paper at the hotel, so I hope you don't mind if I wing it. Emily, I love you so much and I can't imagine going forward in my life without you by my side; Emily Ann Sonnett, will you marry me?" 

As the tears flood Emily's face she nods her head, "Yes, I'll marry you." 

Kelley struggles between shaking and tears but manages to get the ring on Emily's finger before standing up and sharing a kiss with her now fiancée. 

They hear a throat clear and look at Dan, "I don't remember you asking for my permission to propose to Emily, Kelley."

They all look at Dan puzzled and shocked before he cracks a smile and laughs, "Emily, I already think of you as one of my daughters, so I'm glad that Kelley finally decided to smarten up and make it official. It amazes me that for her being a Stanford grad, she really isn't that smart."

"Dad!" 

"I'm only kidding!" Dan picks up his glass of champagne, "Congratulations to both of you on your graduations and your future life together; welcome to the family, Emily." 

"For your information, I did ask Emma for her permission in marrying her sister and she said, "About freaken time!" 

Emily laughs and nods, "I could see that happening." 

"I have a question though, "How is this going to work with the two of you being on different NWSL teams this season?" 

"We've gotten pretty good at the whole long-distance relationship thing. The difference being is that Em will now be in Portland while I'll be in New Jersey. We'll figure it and I honestly can't wait until we play against each other." 

"What about the wedding, when will it be?" 

"During the offseason, that way everyone can come. Hey Em, what do you think about asking if we can get married at the old church?" 

Kelley looks at Emily and smiles before they share another kiss and then dessert. 

\-----------------------------------------------------THE END---------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading, "Beyond The Armband." Make sure to leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of the story. 


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